Welcome to the September round of Writers Reveal! This month’s topic was sent to us by Becky Fyfe of Imagine! Create! Write! Her prompt for us is “dreams”, so I decided to take advantage of the idea to write about a topic I’ve been meaning to share for a while: dreams as a source of creative inspiration. Thanks for the prompt, Becky!

The Stories Hidden in the Subconscious

Movie poster for Inception (2010)

We’re all well familiar with dreams, those little “films” that play out in our heads while we’re asleep. Some people easily remember their dreams after waking up, while others recall them only once in a while. There are nights when we seem to have several and nights when we barely seem to have one. Dreams have been associated with prophecies, divine messages, our deepest desires and a strange combination of the things that happened to us the day before. But one thing they apparently have in common is that they’re a way for the subconscious to tell stories.

Dreams are a subject that I’ve always found intriguing. It’s one of the reasons Inception is on my list of favorite science fiction movies. I almost always remember my dreams when I wake up, and because of that, I’ve found plenty of inspiration for stories hidden in them. More than once, I’ve written a story based on an idea taken directly from a dream. Many of my dreams tell romantic stories, while others are full of action and adventure. I’ve had nightmares that inspired horror stories and euphoric dreams from which I was sad to wake up. My favorites even include some element of fantasy such as flying or breathing underwater. Yes, my dreams can get pretty bizarre, but I like to think they’re a reflection of my active writer’s imagination!

Harvesting Ideas from Dreams

So how can you get the most use out of your dreams? It’s simple. If you’re lucky enough to remember your dreams after you wake up, I highly recommend writing them down. Dreams can be invaluable sources of story ideas, even if (and sometimes especially if) they’re confusing and surreal. If you tend to remember your dreams from almost every night, it may be good practice to keep a dream diary. Much like a regular journal, it can help you hold on to inspiration and can serve as a reference for ideas you didn’t even know you had!

So writers, don’t take your dreams for granted. Embrace them, write them down, try to understand them (however incomprehensible they may be) and extract as many ideas from them as you can. There may just be a goldmine of creative inspiration in your own subconscious!

Do your dreams inspire you? What stories have you written based on an idea that came from a dream?

This has been a special topic post for Writers Reveal, a monthly blog swap among several talented writers. Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the event. Thanks for reading!

Other bloggers in Writers Reveal
Melissa Khalinsky: Melissa Writes
Becky Fyfe: Imagine! Create! Write!
Ashley Howland: Ghostnapped
Emily Hawker: You Learn Something New Every Day
Lee-Anne Walker: Is it just me?

We’re looking for more bloggers to join our circle! If you’re interested in participating in this monthly roundup, be sure to contact Emily Hawker so she can include you in our email list. Thank you!